President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration will conditionally approve a controversial Chinese music event to be held in Taipei as a result of a consensus reached in the so-called “Chinese Nationalist Party-Chinese Communist Party (KMT-CCP) platform,” the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus said yesterday, citing unnamed sources.
“Sources told us that everything had already been worked out in the KMT-CCP platform beforehand and the government is set to conditionally approve the event’s application,” TSU whip Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) told a press conference.
Public discussion about the event arose after the organizers of the Chinese Music Chart Awards unilaterally announced on Thursday that this year’s event would be held in Taipei on Dec. 29, despite not having received official approval from the Taiwanese government.
Today’s joint review meeting of 26 government agencies will be nominal and the under-the-table maneuver for staging this event is suspicious, Huang said.
The TSU discovered that the Taipei Artist Agency Association (TAAA), the event’s co-organizer in Taiwan, played the critical role of helper in facilitating the event’s application with Taiwanese government, she said.
Huang questioned the relations between the TAAA and the pan-blue camp as TAAA president Chao Shao-wei (趙少威) is the younger brother of former New Party lawmaker Chao Shao-kang (趙少康) and several pan-blue camp politicians, including New Party Taipei City Councilors Ouyang Lung (歐陽龍), Lee Hsin (李新) and Hou Kuan-chun (侯冠群), as well as Deputy Speaker Hung Shiu-chu (洪秀柱) and KMT legislators Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛), were listed as the association’s consultants.
Additionally, while the event has yet to be approved by the Taiwanese authorities, a Chinese tour agency has been advertising tour packages since early last month, TSU Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said.
Lin said the agency would not have taken the risk if it was not guaranteed the event would be held.
The TSU also found it unacceptable that the event’s awards are reportedly to be divided into two groups — neidi (內地, referring to China) and “Hong Kong and Taiwan,” Lin said.
The move is an obvious united front tactic to belittle Taiwan’s sovereignty, Lin said, adding that while most people support cross-strait cultural exchanges, they would not accept such disrespect of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Chang Tsu-tse (張祖慈) of the Ministry of Culture said the ministry had expressed concerns over the belittlement of Taiwan in its review and would not approve the application if the applicants did not submit all the required documents.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
RSS